European Union peace initiatives in Gaza Strip crisis fall flat

Member nations' lack of unified voice hinders efforts

January 07, 2009|By Henry Chu, Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times

LONDON — With the U.S. caught in limbo between two presidencies, Europe is trying to fill the diplomatic void by assuming a greater role in the international effort to end the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip.

But a series of high-level official forays appears to have achieved little and once again laid the European Union open to criticism that it punches far below its weight in the diplomatic arena, if only because it cannot seem to decide who does the punching and how hard.

In the past few days, two European delegations descended on the Middle East. One was led by the Czech Republic, which assumed the rotating presidency of the EU last week, and the other by the man who gave up that post, French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Both delegations are urging a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza.

"Pressure should be exerted on all parties involved, including Hamas, in order for the guns to fall silent and peace to return," Sarkozy said Tuesday in Damascus after meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. "There is no military solution in Gaza."

But European calls for a cease-fire have been rebuffed.

Before the delegations arrived in the Middle East, a Czech official described Israel's operation in Gaza as a "defensive" move in response to rockets launched by Hamas at Israel. But the Swedish foreign minister promptly contradicted that statement, blaming Israel for stepping up the violence.

Likewise, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called over the weekend for an immediate cease-fire. But his Dutch counterpart suggested Israel was entitled to respond militarily as long as Hamas continued to fire rockets.

And Sarkozy, though respected in diplomatic circles as an energetic leader, has had to answer criticism that he is mounting a unilateral effort detrimental to the credibility of the EU as a unified body.

"Here was an opportunity for the EU to take a diplomatic lead," the Times of London said in an editorial Tuesday. "What it saw instead was an unseemly squabble," brought on by "outbreaks of national candor."

Public opinion is another matter. Demonstrations against Israel's incursion have attracted thousands throughout Europe.

The anger is feeding concerns of a rise in anti-Semitic violence in the region. On Monday, a synagogue in southern France was attacked by assailants who tried to ram its gates with a car. In Britain, police are investigating a possible arson attempt on a synagogue in north London, The Associated Press reported.